BHUBANESWAR: The iron beams used in centuries-old Konark Sun Temple have demonstrated corrosion resistance almost two orders higher than contemporary steel beams, said an associate professor at the School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at IIT Bhubaneswar Soobhankar Pati on Sunday.
“The corrosion studies conducted on-site using a portable machine have yielded promising results. Though the iron beams may lack certain properties like ductility and weldability, the finding is significant as the ancient technique if revived and put to use again may help prevent rusting and create quality infrastructure,” Prof Pati said.
“Unravelling the manufacturing methods of the iron beams of the Sun Temple may shed light on India’s rich but forgotten technological prowess, while invaluable lessons regarding the technological advancements of India’s past can be also learnt from the research work,” Prof Pati said.
He said the research ‘Forging the Past: Investigating the Manufacturing of Iron Beams Used in Konarka Sun Temple and Analysing Their Socio-Economic Impact on the Local Community’ which is being carried out under the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) of the Ministry of Education, is a two-year long project and will continue for another year.
Funding for the project has been received under the Bharatiya Gyan Samvardhan Yojana’s Competitive Grants Programme, a part of the IKS. Prof Pati, who is also the project lead, said that the study that is being carried out is non-destructive in nature and there will be no physical changes to the historic iron beams during the research.
“This project involves studying ancient technical knowledge, analysing archaeological aspects, and socio-economic evaluations, leading to the recreation of an ancient iron-making laboratory in the future. Past records will also be revisited to find any missing links,” he said. Prof Naresh Chandra Sahu and Prof Parthasarathi De from IIT Bhubaneswar; Siva Shankar Panda from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have joined the project as the co-investigators, while former IIT Kharagpur professor ON Mohanty and ASI Puri official DB Garnayak have also joined as collaborators in the research.